The Photo That Moved Colin Powell Leftward

Photo by Platon/The New Yorker

If you’re like me, you’re wondering how you can make it so you never hear another word about Joe the Plumber again. Well unfortunately, that’s near impossible as this seemingly endless presidential campaign reaches its zenith in the next few weeks. So, in that case, I will mention this election-related bit of photo news. As you probably know, Gen. Colin Powell gave a very thoughtful endorsement of Barack Obama on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” (notwithstanding that he’s the guy who sold the Iraq war to the UN, but I digress…).

Part of what turned the tide for Powell and made him jump ship from the R’s to the D’s was a photo by Platon in The New Yorker. It showed a mother draped over the tombstone of her son, a 20-year-old Muslim-American soldier named Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. Powell said he was disheartened by the tone of the current Republican party and its anti-Islamic rhetoric directed at Obama.

Now, that’s a powerful photo.